Farm policy takes a rare front seat in Senate campaign

The mass of Colorado votes are in Front Range cities and suburban counties, and the state’s rural voters are reliably Republican in most elections anyway. But that didn’t stop the U.S. Senate campaigns from taking new swipes at each other over farm knowledge and farm policy this week.

Republican Ken Buck’s campaign added up the times Sen. Michael Bennet could have been at meetings of the senate Agriculture Committee, where Bennet is a member and which appointment Bennet has touted as a plumb for a junior lawmaker. The Buck campaign said Bennet could have attended 26 ag committee hearings after his January 2009 appointment, including important discussions on proposed EPA dust regulations, cap and trade legislation and other farm country issues.

“While Senator Bennet says his position on the committee provides Colorado ‘a seat at the negotiation table,’ his failure to attend oversight hearings leaves our Colorado agriculture community an empty chair in Washington,” said John Swartout, Buck’s campaign manager.

The Bennet campaign responded that some of those hearings were field meetings far from Washington, D.C., scheduled by Congress to address regional concerns, and that Bennet would have had to spend taxpayer money to travel there. They also said the Buck count doesn’t factor whether other important Senate committees were overlapping with the Agriculture hearings. Their count shows 23 Washington hearings, with Bennet attending 11, and conflicts preventing him from attending five others.

Then Bennet fired back with its own potato gun, saying Buck has been on the campaign trail admitting he doesn’t know much about farm policy.

The Bennet campaign referenced a story here in the Fort Morgan Times wrapping up the candidates’ stances on a number of issues; on farm policy, the paper did indeed say Buck told them he would have to study the farm bill before making more comments. Buck has said in the past he wants to eliminate the estate tax that some farmers and ranchers claim makes it hard to pass on their land to the next generation; Bennet has said he wants to raise the exemption so the estate tax doesn’t hit family farms and ranches.

“How can Ken Buck claim to be in touch with the people of Colorado if he’s not even in tune with the needs of his home county?” said Bennet for Colorado Spokesman Trevor Kincaid. Bennet’s campaign noted Weld County, where Buck is prosecutor and cattle feedlots are enormous, is one of the top agriculture counties in the region.

We’ve previously tackled farm issues by asking what conservative Republican philosophy is about government subsidies for agriculture, and what Sen. Bennet would do differently in farm country.

Bennet said “the economy is job #1” but he has placed government spending first. He also stays busy taking money from the same Wall Street bankers who cost the Denver Public Schools $115 million in interest and fees. Those bankers ‘thanked’ Bennet by heaving thousands to his campaign.

Davidjohnson813

Bennet said “the economy is job #1” but he has placed government spending first. He also stays busy taking money from the same Wall Street bankers who cost the Denver Public Schools $115 million in interest and fees. Those bankers ‘thanked’ Bennet by heaving thousands to his campaign.

Davidjohnson813

Bennet said “the economy is job #1” but he has placed government spending first. He also stays busy taking money from the same Wall Street bankers who cost the Denver Public Schools $115 million in interest and fees. Those bankers ‘thanked’ Bennet by heaving thousands to his campaign.

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.